There was a lot of smoke but not much actual fire at Thursday night’s commercial structure fire on the corner of Walnut and Washburn streets in Lockport.
According to the Lockport Fire Department, the fire was contained to just a 750 square-foot area of the Licata Professional Office Building, which houses Jiffy Mart and Walnut Street Liquor, among other things.
The press release said that the fire was eventually found in a storage room on the north wall of the building. It was “brought under control” within two hours and “suppression crews were complete” within four hours.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
The full narrative of an LFD press release regarding the fire follows:
“Niagara County dispatched LFD for a commercial structure fire with reported smoke coming from the building per the 911 caller. 9M10, E7, E8, T9, & M64 responded from headquarters, under the direction of Assistant Chief Josh Wolck. On arrival heavy brown smoke was visible coming from the portico that extended the entire length of the East side of the structure, however no flames were immediately visible from the exterior. The initial fire attack crew from Engine 7, led by Lieutenant Nick Kalbfliesh, deployed an 1.75″ hose line to the second floor of the structure to search for victims and a fire source, neither were found. A second crew led by Assistant Chief James Scapelliti, began performing forcible entry into the first floor store fronts on the East side of the structure to search for victims and a fire source, but also found neither. The two stores located on the South side of the structure, Walnut St Liquor & Jiffy Mart, were open and operating at the onset of the fire, however both stores were initially free of any smoke or fire and staff and customers were able to exit safely on their own accord. As crews continued to force open doors around the first floor of the building, a door in the back alley on the North wall lead to a storage room where the fire was located and promptly extinguished with an 1.75″ hose line.”
“A total of four 1.75” hoselines were deployed during the course of extinguishment. Extensive overhaul was required in the portico area on the exterior of the building as the initial smoke venting from it led fire crews to believe it was the primary source of the fire. Overhaul was also conducted extensively between the first and second floor above the drop ceiling where the void space existed to allow such heavy smoke spread. Approximately 1200 gallons of water were used during extinguishment & overhaul. Fire damage was mostly kept to the Northwest corner of the first floor in the room of origin. The fire was brought under control within two hours of LFD arrival and suppression crews were complete within four hours.
No civilian or firefighter injuries were reported during this incident. Water tankers were called to standby as a precaution due to a potential water shortage within the City, however neither were utilized.”
